Tulsa World: Pokes still figuring out an identity

TULSA WORLD HOMEPAGE | Tuesday, February 09, 2010 | WIRELESS

OU | OSU | TU | ORU | HIGH SCHOOLS | COLLEGE FOOTBALL | COLLEGE BASKETBALL | NFL | FANTASY | OUTDOORS | GOLF | PROS | ALL

HOMEPAGES

SPORTS EXTRA BLOGS

		Sports Editor Mike Strain
		Sports Columnist Dave Sittler
		The Picker Entertaining & Infuriating

LOCAL PROS

ALL SPORTS

PHOTOS & VIDEOS

OUTDOORS

FIND A STORY

Search the World's archives

EMAIL ALERTS

SOCIAL MEDIA

RSS FEEDS

CONTACT US

BUY PHOTOS & PAGES

Buy a published photo by clicking the "Order this Picture" link on the photo. For a full-color page reprint, call 732-8198 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday or order online.

TULSA WORLD

ADVERTISE ON SPORTS EXTRA

Learn more about the site.

Newspaper View Print this story

Bookmark

Pokes still figuring out an identity

By JOHN KLEIN Senior Sports Columnist
Published: 12/21/2008 2:21 AM
Last Modified: 12/21/2008 2:28 AM

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma State has suffered through some awful games.

Then, occasionally, the Cowboys look like a potential NCAA Tournament team.

That's just what one should expect from a team trying to figure out a completely different system under a completely different coach.

The Cowboys are making a difficult transition to the up-and-down of coach Travis Ford after 18 years of structured basketball under the Suttons.

Oklahoma State's wild roller-coaster ride was on the upswing Saturday night when the Cowboys held off Rhode Island, 86-82, in the All-College Classic.

That's a quality victory over a quality opponent that could be important if the Cowboys can become more consistent and give themselves a chance to play significant games in March.

"We won against a very good team," said Ford. "They are going to win way over 20 games. They are going to win a lot of games in the Atlantic 10 (Conference).

"That's a good win for us."

There are games when OSU seems to be adapting and making some serious strides just two months into Ford's tenure. Tulsa went to Stillwater and the Golden Hurricane, talking about getting into the NCAA Tournament, got run off the court by 22 points. The Cowboys hung with highly rated Gonzaga to the final minutes of a loss.

Against Rhode Island, the Cowboys were in a tight game to the finish and had to keep its composure to win "our toughest game" of the season.

"It was a big time win for us," said OSU's Bryon Eaton. "It was a good way to end just before Christmas.

"Later on down the line this is going to be a big win. That team is going to win 20 or more games."

There are some nights when O-State looks completely lost in the transition. Michigan State hammered OSU by 15. The Cowboys lost at Washington by 18.

And one has to wonder how the Cowboys, with virtually no interior game, will handle life in the Big 12 Conference.

"That's just the way it is going to be for us," said Ford. "That won't change."

The Big 12 is loaded with size and physical play. That's something in short supply for O-State.

As a result, the basketball Cowboys have become almost overlooked at a school where football has suddenly become king.

The excitement over a 9-3 season, a third straight bowl and the flashy new football stadium has made basketball a secondary sport in Stillwater. That would have seemed quite improbable just five years ago.

Eddie Sutton took the Cowboys to two Final Fours and they were a regular in the NCAA Tournament during his 16 years. But, a long, slow decline the past three seasons brought a nasty split with Sean Sutton and plenty of questions.

Spoiled by Sutton's success, OSU's basketball fans have been slow to come back to Gallagher-Iba Arena. Once considered among the handful of best college basketball arenas in the country, the gym is better known these days for its sea of empty orange seats.

Much of that has been the Cowboys' performance. In the last three seasons, OSU lost 11 games at home. That's more than the previous seven years.

It has been just five years since the Cowboys reached the Final Four in San Antonio. Four years ago, OSU won a second straight Big 12 Tournament and advanced to the NCAA regional finals.

Since then, there was Eddie Sutton's painful split with OSU after a drunken driving incident and Sean Sutton's two seasons were full of disappointments and losses.

Now, it's up to Ford in a wildly different system to put the Cowboys back on the road to a breakthrough season. So far, there have been some encouraging signs, such as beating Rhode Island.

OSU's RPI has hovered in the top 50 for much of the season (Rhode Island was 32 before the OSU loss), giving the Cowboys a chance of reaching the NCAA Tournament if it can get in the top half of the Big 12.

How to survive in the Big 12 without much size, as it did against Rhode Island, will be huge. By JOHN KLEIN Senior Sports Columnist

Newspaper View Print this story

Bookmark

COMMENTS

Add your comment

Show: Most Recent Comment First

0 comments have been made for this team so far. Tell us what you think below!

Reporting Comments

If you see a comment that violates our terms and conditions, please help us by clicking the "Report this Comment" link next to a comment. That will alert the web staff to review the comment. Thank you. -- Web Editor Jason Collington

Add Your Comment
In order to post a comment on this article, you must sign in to Tulsaworld.com. If you do not have a site account, you can create an account for free.